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The Appointing and Removal Power of the President of the United States: A Treatise on the Subject of the Appointing and Removal Power of the President of the United States.

Executive power. --- Executive power

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The Appointing and Removal Power of the President of the United States: A Treatise on the Subject of the Appointing and Removal Power of the President of the United States.

Executive power. --- Executive power

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Executive power

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This text analyzes an ever-present issue, the struggle between the President and the Congress for power. It also provides insight into the issues of balance of powers in the earlier years of the presidency under Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

Executive power

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Under the Constitution, the President and the Senate share the power to make appointments to the highest-level politically appointed positions in the federal government. The Constitution also empowers the President unilaterally to make a temporary appointment to such a position if it is vacant and the Senate is in recess. Such an appointment, termed a recess appointment, expires at the end of the following session of the Senate. This report identifies recess appointments made by President George W. Bush from the time he took office on January 20, 2001, through October 31, 2008. Basic descriptive statistics regarding these appointments are also provided. As of October 31, 2008, President Bush had made 171 recess appointments. President William J. Clinton, in comparison, made a total of 139 recess appointments during the course of his presidency. Of President Bush's 171 recess appointments, 99 were to full-time positions, and the remaining 72 were to part-time positions. Thirty were made during recesses between Congresses or between sessions of Congress (intersession recess appointments). The remaining 141 were made during recesses within sessions of Congress (intrasession recess appointments). The duration of the 24 recesses during which President Bush made recess appointments ranged from 10 to 47 days. The average (mean) duration of these recesses was 25 days, and the median duration was 26 days. In 165 of the 171 cases in which President Bush made a recess appointment, the individual was also nominated, by October 31, 2008, to the position to which he or she had been appointed. In 162 of these 165 cases, the individuals being appointed had previously been nominated to the position. In the three remaining cases, the individuals were first nominated to the position after the recess appointment. Of the 165 cases in which the President submitted a nomination for the recess appointee, as of October 31, 2008, 95 had resulted in confirmation, 6 were pending in the Senate, and the remaining 64 had failed to be confirmed. In 31 of these 64 recess appointment cases, the President withdrew the nominations of the appointees, and in the remaining 33 cases, the nominations were returned to the President.

Executive power